Ice Cream Adventure: Kline’s Freeze

I love ice cream. My favorite kind of ice cream is soft serve. I know that there are many critics (certainly plenty on yelp) who don’t think soft serve is ice cream. Well, who cares what other people think- it’s cold, sweet and yummy. It will always be ice cream to me! We’ve always wanted to try Kline’s Freeze in Manassas. For years we would drive by a couple of times a summer and think “ hey, we should go there” and we finally went there. It was worth the wait! We had some of the best ice cream that I’ve ever had.

Kline’s Freeze is an adorable vintage drive in! It’s not about décor or seating here. Kline’s Freeze closes for the winter and the only places to eat are a few benches outside and a couple of tables out back. We ate in the car because we needed some air conditioning and shade for my rapidly melting cone. We didn’t mind! It was awesome to watch the workers prepare a variety of sweet and savory treats. Everyone we encountered was polite and friendly. They also paid attention to something that I complain about eateries sometimes. They actually had napkins where you can reach them and get more if you need. Instead of just being handed a wad that we may or may not use we were able to get what we needed. I needed a bunch because I had a cone but RJ only needed one since he had a cup. Way to cut down on your waste Kline’s Freeze, hey, even a little helps!

I ordered the chocolate soft served ice cream dipped in nuts and chocolate. It was so crazy good. I loved it! The chocolate ice cream was really, really mellow maybe a touch too mellow. But, I had it dipped in chocolate too so that might have lessened the intensity a bit by comparison. The nuts were crunchy and slightly oily tasting- yum! And, the dipping chocolate wasn’t too sweet but it was a little soft when I first got it. It was a yummy cone of ice cream. They don’t skimp on portions either! I got the small and had a huge mountain of ice cream.

RJ got the most delicious funnel cake sundae (it was splurge time for the weekend- we ate healthy the rest of the day). It was so good that I may get it next time. Strawberries, vanilla soft serve and a funnel cake are a winning combination.

The funnel cakes are so good in fact that we had an extra one. They are really small and we shared it. We weren’t able to go to Celebrate Fairfax (a big county fair) this year because of monetary reasons so we were missing the fried, fair experience. This really hit the spot and we got everything we are for ten dollars. That’s cheaper then one ticket for the fair would have been.

Kline’s freeze is definitely worth a repeat visit. I just hope it’s soon. Love you, Kline’s Freeze! (P.S. They totally have hot dogs- definitely going back for a splurge!

Chocolate and Nut Dipped Cone- 10

Funnel Cake Sundae ( with strawberries)- 10

Overall Rating- 10

Chocolate and Nut Dipped Cone from Kline’s Freeze

Funnel Cake Sundae with Strawberries from Kline’s Freeze

He Said: Kline’s Freeze

I grew up in Manassas, and remember going by Kline’s Freeze when I was a little kid. Back then the area wasn’t very built up; in fact it used to be next door to a drive-in movie theater. Surprisingly, I’ve never tried them before. Was this a gem from a bygone era, or a shack that has overstayed it’s welcome?

When you first pull up to Kline’s Freeze, it seems a little out of place. Clearly things have changed a lot in this town in the past 40 years since Kline’s Freeze opened. You have to drive up a steep hill to get to the parking from the road. There is some outside seating, but none inside. Boy is it worth it.

Kari got a chocolate dipped cone with peanuts, and I got something that I’d never or before, a funnel cake sundae. Quite possibly the coolest moment was when I asked what came on the sundae. The response was to point me towards the extensive toppings list (including all the classics like strawberry, whipped cream, hot fudge, caramel sauce, as well as some newer toppings like cake batter) and tell me whatever I wanted. Wow, how cool. At most places now items are really pre-packed, or you only get a couple of toppings from a short list. Not here. That is a really cool touch. I got my sundae with strawberries and whipped cream. When asked if I wanted nuts and a cherry, I gladly took them up on their offer.

What I got was what I never knew to ask for in a sundae. The funnel cake is small by some standards (5 inch diameter), but works great here. Any larger, and it wouldn’t fit in the cup. That’s part of the beauty of this dish. When you treat ice cream as a topping for a funnel cake, the cake then has to do double duty as the plate as well, but when you release it from that role, it gets to shine in an entirely different way. They still put powdered sugar on the funnel cake before adding the ice cream and toppings.

Oh the ice cream! The ice cream here is soft serve, but you can tell it’s made fresh and with care. It’s satiny and creamy and delicious. The strawberry topping featured very generous amounts of actual fresh strawberries, not just syrup. The whipped cream was better than I expected, and the nuts were a just right blend, that I’m sure not quite sure what all the parts were. It was the best sweet treat I’ve had in quite some time. And all for only five dollars!

Kari’s was good too. It was like if Dairy Queen was run by your grandmother instead of a corporation. The chocolate ice cream was sensational, and the chocolate and nuts that it was mixed in really complemented it wonderfully.

We loved the food so much here that we got a funnel cake for the road. We didn’t try any of their entrée’s this trip, but we probably will at some point. They’re not just burgers and hot dogs (although apparently the hot dogs are famous) they have chicken sandwiches, Philly cheesesteaks, pulled pork and even a shrimp box!